Friday May 10th 2019

PM Updates marked in RED *****Attention iPhone and iPad users***** The new iOS FishDope app for iPhone and iPad is here! Search for FishDope in the App Store to download and install. We recommend a minimum of iOS 9 to run the app, and newer versions will give the best performance. Note: Please use your FishDope username, not email address, to log in. The app offers all the charts and the latest 7 days of fishing reports, and you can now stream live VHF radio while online. It automatically stores the fishing reports for offline use, and it also saves the last chart region and chart layers you’ve viewed so that you can take them with you on the water and out of wifi range. You can also continue to view the FishDope website with a browser like Safari or Chrome on your phone or tablet, but only the app will save reports and charts for offline use. We’ve created a FAQ page for the app (with instructions for using it) here: FishDope App Frequently Asked Questions If you have other questions or notice bugs, please post them up in our forums.

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—– Weather ALERT! —– Great weather this morning with the exception of a few light showers around. At the noon hour the wind was up slightly and there was still scattered rain showers all up and down the coast. At 3pm there was a line of light to medium showers extending from Oxnard to well past San Nicolas Island. This band of rain was moving north by northeast. There is a good chance we will see some rain or thunderstorms tonight through Sunday. Then it should end until next Thursday / Friday when we will have another good chance for some more rain. Inshore winds should remain the same. Light early and 10-15 in the afternoon and evening. Stronger winds are expected up in the Channel Islands on Sunday through at least Tuesday next week. As always, please keep a close eye on the latest forecast and conditions for your local area before you head out! …THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE OVER THE COASTAL WATERS THROUGH AT LEAST SATURDAY… An unstable air mass will bring the potential for thunderstorms to the coastal waters through at least Saturday evening. The focus of the threat will be north of Point Conception today, and south of Point Conception on Saturday. Any thunderstorm that forms will be capable of producing locally gusty winds with rough seas, dangerous lightning, heavy rainfall with reduced visibility, and waterspouts. Synopsis for Inshore Waters of the Southern California Coast A low pressure system will move through the coastal waters today and Saturday. South and southeast flow is expected during this time. Showers are expected today through Sunday morning, with a few thunderstorms possible Saturday afternoon and evening. Weak onshore flow will continue next week.  

LIVE Weather Broadcast Northern Sector – Santa Barbara to LA Southern Sector – Orange and San Diego County and SCI Baja Sector (experimental, may not be updated every day) —– Bait Report —– Bait Barge Contact Info Everingham Bros Bait Company San Diego – 4-6″ sardine (5-7) Mission Bay – 3-6″ sardine (5-4) Oceanside Bait Barge Recording (760) 434-1183 – 5-6″ sardine  (5-4). Dana Point – 5-7″ sardine (5-10). Newport Bait Barge (310) 461-5370 – 4-6″ sardine (5-8) Nacho’s Bait Barge (updated when members report) –  5-7″ sardine – NO squid (5-10) San Pedro Bait Barge (310) 365-2516 CH.11 – 4-6″ sardine (5-8) Redondo Bait Report (310) 372-2111 – medium size sardines – Available most mornings. Call 909 721-5849 for Mike at the bait barge (5-4) Marina Del Rey (updated when members report) – Sardines. $30/scoop, half scoops not available (5-6) CISCOS Bait Barge –  sardine & anchovy mix  (5-9)

****************************** INSHORE / ISLANDS Section ******************************

Inshore GPS Spots are here.   Sheephead news: As of Apr. 1st you can now fillet sheephead on board your boat thanks to a collaboration between SAC and CA DFW. Fillets must be at least 6.75″ long with the full skin attached. See the DFW press release for details. Channel Islands There was a little bit of seabass action today at both Santa Rosa and at Santa Cruz Island. Not a lot of them, just a few but it is a start. We did not hear if the squid is coming back at Rosa but seeing that there were a few caught it could definitely be a possibility. Remember the 1st quarter moon is on the 11th and the full is on the 18th. Prime time for both the squid to pop back up and the gamefish to follow them up. Keep your fingers crossed. If you want rockfish and lingcod none of that info has changed… The fishing for lingcod and big quality reds and chuckles is great at San Miguel and Santa Rosa. The lings prefer the sardine and the swimbaits or jigs. They don’t care much for squid. Yeah sure you catch one on squid once in a while but day in and day out the other methods work so much better. The live and fresh dead squid though is hammering the reds, chuckles and whitefish. At Anacapa Island guys fishing the Anacapa Reef and along the south side of the Island to the Gap between Santa Cruz and Anacapa in 200 to 350-400 feet are scoring plenty of reds along with lots of other mixed red rockfish and whitefish. Live or fresh dead squid is working best but they are biting the anchovy too. Santa Monica Bay Joe called in to report a wide open barracuda bite this morning at Rocky Point. Problem is they are all shorts in the 18-22″ inch class. Still this is big news as the bay has been dead except for rockfish for months. Hopefully some legal size fish will follow in shortly. Keep those fingers crossed. Other than that everything is all about rockfish at the South Bank and all the other regular rockfish locations. LA Harbor / Long Beach Shelf / Newport Beach Rain showers this morning but little wind. There is still a chance at catching a yellowtail at the Mussel Farm , 150 or out by the rigs but the bite has slowed way down in recent days. Maybe if you brought some live squid to the Mussel Farm?? Who knows but it might be worth a try. Other than this most of the boats are back to chasing rockfish at the Southeast Bank, Double Rigs Reef or any of the West Slope locations for a mix of bocaccio, reds, whitefish, sand dabs and sculpin. Izor’s Reef and the New Pipe #2 spot has some sand bass, a few calico bass and some sculpin for the guys fishing the leadhead and squid combo and plastic’s Catalina Island Squid; The Long Beach Carnage is out in front of Avalon with live squid for sale. Contact them at 562-714-8103 or hail them on VHF ch 11. They have/had a very limited amount today but will remain at the Island to try and make more for tomorrow morning. If they make any they will be parked in front of Avalon by 6am. Mills Landing is the location for the squid but again it is very hard to catch right now. The stuff is not coming up to the surface and to make matters worse seiners were making sets on the stuff Sunday night. Be sure and bring the squid jigs as you might not be able to scoop any at all. Fishing; The big story at this Island is yellowtail. It appears a large volume of them has moved in and some very impressive scores have been made in recent days. The front side stuff was biting the sardine good but as more and more boats are throwing live squid at them the bite is switching over to squid being the bait of choice. On the back side the yellows want the squid mostly but a few are biting the yoyo iron too. In addition there is a better chance for seabass too along the back side. These are big fish! Most, if not all recently fall in the 40-60lb class. One thing stands out most important of all… CURRENT! If there is no current running where you are the yellows will not bite. You either need to move to another location OR sit and wait them out until the current does start to flow. If you see or know there are yellows in the area where you are anchored up and have the time to sit them out waiting is the best option. Keep a very slow chum line going of live sardines and squid bits while you are waiting. Very slow! The bait will likely sit and hide under the boat boat but that is ok. The fish can see it and will hang around. The squid bits will draw in hordes of blue perch which again is a very good thing Let’s get down with the locations as there are quite a few… Frontside from Little Gibraltar to Red Bluff has some mixed grade yellowtail running from 5 to about 20lbs. The most volume in this zone appears to be at Empire Landing and at Yellowtail Point. A few big seabass are running mixed in with these yellowtail. This same area saw probably close to 100 boats fishing there this morning. There are more yellows and maybe a seabass or 2 on the front from Isthmus Reef to Starlight although it doesn’t appear to be as many as the Empire/Yellowtail Point area. On the back side there has also been an increase in the yellowtail numbers and a few large white seabass too. The West End to Little Harbor has some yellows and seabass. 95% live squid bite on these with a few on the yoyo iron. The West End and Iron Bound in particular seem best. Moving east we got word this morning of a tanker seabass caught on the squid bed at Mills Landing while the guys were trying to jig up some squid. The Farnsworth Bank is also holding a good number of yellowtail. These are biting the squid and yoyo iron. Moving east the area between Salta Verde and the East End has some yellowtail and some signal of seabass. The yellows are in deeper water from 50-100 feet while the seabass are in tight on the beaches in that green milky white water. There is also some barracuda being caught in this area. More yellows are in the area from the Can Dump to Pebbly Beach along with some bonito. Lastly back around to the front the Condos area to White’s Landing has some signal of yellowtail along with some bonito and a few barracuda. Evening Update; Well you can add in Orange Rocks as a good possible spot for yellowtail too as a bunch of 12-25lb yellows were caught there today. San Clemente Island The Navy web site says the Gold Bluff to White Rock area is closed today from 7am till 5pm but will be open for the weekend through next Wednesday. Pyramid Cove will be closed from 10pm until 11pm. It is open in the morning hours. The Gold Bluff / White Rock area is the location where most of the good yellowtail bites have been coming from but sadly that area has been closed by the Navy most of this week. It is wide open tomorrow though so we expect the boats will be right back on it. Current has also been an issue along the front or should I say a lack of it. When the current isn’t running the yellows don’t bite. Pyramid Cove in the Caves area saw some yellows bite on live squid in the grey light of very early morning a few days ago but nothing since then. There is some squid around but sea lions are all over it. Most appears to be up at NW Harbor where some boats saw “fire balls” of the stuff but it was beat up in a few minutes by those pesky sea lions. There are now some barracuda in the Cove where the yellows are and there is still plenty of those bonito around too. We had a contact run the back side mid week looking for yellowtail and he said “It’s a ghost town. Totally devoid of life. No bait, no birds, no fish”. Of course this is old dope now. Things could have changed. It might very well be worth the time to have a look at the Dunes/Runway area as it is a very common area for squid and yellowtail this time of year. Be sure to check the Navy closure schedule  before heading out. Always monitor VHF Ch. 16 and obey any requests to clear out of closed security zones. Click here  for info on how to read the closure schedule. Dana Point / Oceanside Calico bass are getting pretty active now although the vast majority of those are shorts just under the 14″ min size limit. Still it is fun catch and release fishing. Most of the major locations south of Dana are working as are the kelp spots off Oceanside down to Solana Beach. The smaller sardines and plastics are working well once you get them chummed up into a biting mood. Use the bigger sardines and squid bits for chum. If you want rockfish Box Canyon continues to provide plenty of reds, bocaccio and sculpin. The rockfish are on the deep end of the cobble stone hard bottom in 220 to 240 feet while the sculpin are on the shallower end in about 180 to 200 feet. Squid and red plastics are both working great Del Mar to Imperial Beach Yellows are showing and biting in the Upper La Jolla area. Skiffs and kayaks are getting some on slow trolled mackerel jigged up along the kelp line. Another boat did well this morning trolling rapalas just above the MPA line in 70 to 80 feet of water. But is not just those guys as the 1/2 day boats are starting to get them too. The Sea Watch out of Seaforth Landing got 10 yesterday afternoon mainly on fly lined sardine but there was at least 1 surface iron fish cast to a spot of working tern birds. **** Attention **** There is now an ice vending machine at the Shelter Island launch ramp for your convenience. It’s located right near the bathroom building at the top of the ramp. The machine takes credit cards and 20 lb. bags are $6.95 each. Swipe your credit card to open, take as many as you want, and it charges by weight when you close the door. ——— Mexican waters ———— Getting Permits To Fish Mexico – An Angler’s Guide To Baja by That Baja Guy-Gary Graham Coronado Islands / Rockpile From what we heard this morning the yellowtail bite is slow just like the past several days. We had a couple of contacts fishing the Islands this morning and both reported in with nothing to show for it. If we hear something more this evening we’ll be sure and update the report. With so few boats fishing the Islands again reports are very hard to come by so if you fished the Islands please shoot us a report to Reports@www.fishdope.com. Bracelets are now required to fish within Pacific Island Biosphere Reserve areas, including the Coronado Islands, Todos Santos, and San Martin Island. See the Mexico Info page in the Resources section for more info. **** ATTENTION **** You must stay at least 250 meters (820 feet) away from any tuna pens. If you don’t you are at risk of losing your boat and landing in a Mexican jail. Click here for more details on this subject *********************** The Mexican Navy regularly patrols the islands and checks boats for the required paperwork, including Mexican Fishing License, Vessel Temporary Import Permit, FMM and valid Country of Residence Passport for each person on the boat (can’t purchase the FMM (Tourist Card) without a passport anyway). Required permits are listed on the CONAPESCA website for fishing within 12 miles of land including the islands. The permits can be purchased through their website.

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***** Very Limited New Info Today ***** Very quiet day today. We believe there was not very many boats out on the water. Tonight however there is a bunch of boats online to run for fishing on Saturday and we should get a much better idea of what is happening. What little we did hear about today was all in the area of the Upper Finger Bank down to the 475 Knuckle –——— US WATERS ———– Below the 43 Fathom Spot / Clemente Basin Buoy / East-West Butterfly Once again we did not get a report from this area today as the fleet has made a move over to the 475 Knuckle area instead. That said there is still a very good chance there are still some bluefin in this area as well up the Clemente Ridge or out towards the 381 and the 267 Condom Bank. Water temp is hovering around 63.5 degrees. Perfect for bluefin. Water is also very clean with good signal of bait around especially near the Clement Basin Buoy. At last word all the tuna in this area were only being found on the sonar down 150 to 200 feet with no signal of any tuna up on the surface. We expect this area will see some boats having a look at it this weekend unless something good develops elsewhere. BTW…. If you want yellowtail and you are close to the San Clemente Basin Weather Buoy you should stop and make a drift. The Buoy has been holding a bunch of rat yellowtail on it for the past week or so The following GPS numbers are where bluefin or kelp paddy yellowtail were found today but not necessarily where tuna/yellowtail were caught: 32 30.25 x 118 02.10 – San Clemente Basin Buoy. Yellowtail ——- MEXICAN WATERS ———— 425-101 / 475 Knuckle / Finger Bank / Upper Hidden Bank As mentioned above at the top of the offshore section today was a quiet day for gathering info. Just not many boats out on the water and the ones that were out were not saying much. That said the San Diego called in at 12:30pm with 6 bluefin in the 70-80lb class that were caught mostly on the big flat-fall jigs. Shortly after that the Intrepid called in with 3 bluefin running from 70 to 150lbs again mostly on the Flat-fall jigs Watch for an evening update. The following report from yesterday remains the best most current info we have except for the GPS info. That is today’s information; This new area is where 90% of the fleet is now working as some decent sized schools were found in this area late Wednesday afternoon and evening. On Thursday the fleet was in the general area of the 475 Knuckle and finding a decent amount of bluefin up on the surface to down 100 feet or so. These bluefin are running in the 40 to 150lb class with most of those in the 50-70lb class and are stuffed full of red crab. They are responding well to chum but are NOT biting well. Most of the tuna that are getting hooked in this area are coming on either the fly line sardine with 30-40lb fluoro and a size 1-1/0 circle hook or the rubber band torpedo rig and a hot sardine or on the Flat-fall jigs. They are being found as puddlers, breezers and on the sonar. There is tonnage of red crab in the area and those are showing up as huge red blobs on the meter which could easily be mistaken for tuna. Again these bluefin are responding well to the chum unlike the fish out to the NW west which are hunkered down for what ever reason. Responding well yes! but not really biting well. Some boats got 10 or 12 but other only a handful or none at all. This zone is also holding kelps with yellowtail on them. Most of these are those little 3-5lb rats but there are some legit 8-15lbers in the mix. The following GPS numbers are where bluefin or kelp paddy yellowtail were found today but not necessarily where tuna/yellowtail were caught: Friday May 10th 2019 32 15 x 117 12.5 – 40-60lb bluefin 32 11 x 117 09 – Bluefin 32 09 x 117 08 – Bluefin sonar mark. Several caught on Flat-fall jigs 32 06 x 117 07 – Bluefin sonar marks 32 05 x 117 06 – Bluefin puddlers The sportboat San Diego is recommending these tackle set-ups; (1) Talica 12 2 speed filled halfway with 65 lb braid. Then topped off with fresh 40 lb mono. Next attach 5 feet of 40 lb flouro. Next attach size 1 or 1/0 circle hook. This will be your flyline bait rig. (2) Talica 12 or 16 2 speed filled halfway with 65 or 80 lb braid then topped off with 50 lb mono. Next attach 5 ft of 50 lb flouro. Then tie a 1/0 circle hook then rubber band a 6 oz torpedo sinker. The 2nd outfit can also fish a 200 gram flatfall with a crimped 80 lb leader. ***** General Info updated on 5-8-2019 ***** During the daytime there has been a few balloon or kite/double trouble rig bluefin caught over the past several days and this is the #1 way to get these really big tuna to the boat as it is nearly impossible to land a 150+ tuna on 40lb flyline gear. For most guys the bites continue to come on the fly line sardine fished on 30-40lb fluorocarbon, a small circle hook and a HOT sardine. Take some time to pick the best sardine possible! You want a pale green back and NO red spots on the body. Generally speaking the hardest one to catch in the bait well is the one you want to be using. A few have been successful lately rubber banding a 4-6oz torpedo sinker to the line and dropping the sardine down deep where the tuna are holding. See the pic below. Lately there has been more flat-fall fish too. Not just at night either. Some guys are getting them during the daytime too. These are generally coming off stops where the bluefin are showing down around 150 to 200 feet and refuse to come up for the chum. Fish the flat-fall with at least a 100lb fluoro leader. 130-150lb is even better. Use at least 60lb. main line. 80 to 100lb gear is much better when fishing the flat-fall jigs. The night time hours from 7pm until 6am is all about the Flat-fall jigs. Here is a great trick/tip…. Take a black permanent marker and put a mark(s) on the braid every 50 feet. One mark for 50 feet, 2 for 100, 3 for 150 and so on. This will allow you to know exactly how deep you are fishing. You find the tuna on the sonar you know to drop down to just past the 3rd mark to allow a little extra for scope. Below is a pic of the rubber band sinker rig some guys are using to get a sardine down deep to the fish.

******************************************************************* All reports, good, bad, or otherwise are very helpful. If you go fishing please give us a call or shoot us an email. reports@www.fishdope.com 1 (619) 992-6099

   

Thursday May 9th 2019

PM Updates marked in RED *****Attention iPhone and iPad users***** The new iOS FishDope app for iPhone and iPad is here! Search for FishDope in the App Store to download and install. We recommend a minimum of iOS 9 to run the app, and newer versions will give the best performance. Note: Please use your FishDope username, not email address, to log in. The app offers all the charts and the latest 7 days of fishing reports, and you can now stream live VHF radio while online. It automatically stores the fishing reports for offline use, and it also saves the last chart region and chart layers you’ve viewed so that you can take them with you on the water and out of wifi range. You can also continue to view the FishDope website with a browser like Safari or Chrome on your phone or tablet, but only the app will save reports and charts for offline use. We’ve created a FAQ page for the app (with instructions for using it) here: FishDope App Frequently Asked Questions If you have other questions or notice bugs, please post them up in our forums.

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—– Weather —– Heavy cloud cover with a few very widely scattered light rain showers or drizzle this morning but the winds were generally light and the seas pretty nice. That changed in the afternoon when those same 10-15 knot winds came back up like they have been for a long time now and will likely to continue to do so for the next 2 months or so. There is a pretty good chance we will see some rain and maybe a thunderstorm on Friday and Saturday. More rain chances are coming on Sunday and Monday. It looks to be dry after that. As always, please keep a close eye on the latest forecast and conditions for your local area before you head out! Synopsis for Inshore Waters of the Southern California Coast Onshore flow will continue with southerly winds developing Friday and Saturday associated with a weak storm system. The system will bring scattered showers through Sunday, with a slight chance of thunderstorms Saturday.  

LIVE Weather Broadcast Northern Sector – Santa Barbara to LA Southern Sector – Orange and San Diego County and SCI Baja Sector (experimental, may not be updated every day) —– Bait Report —– Bait Barge Contact Info Everingham Bros Bait Company San Diego – 4-6″ sardine (5-7) Mission Bay – 3-6″ sardine (5-4) Oceanside Bait Barge Recording (760) 434-1183 – 5-6″ sardine  (5-4). Dana Point – 5-7″ sardine (5-2). Newport Bait Barge (310) 461-5370 – 4-6″ sardine (5-8) Nacho’s Bait Barge (updated when members report) –  4-6″ sardine (5-8) San Pedro Bait Barge (310) 365-2516 CH.11 – 4-6″ sardine (5-8) Redondo Bait Report (310) 372-2111 – medium size sardines – Available most mornings. Call 909 721-5849 for Mike at the bait barge (5-4) Marina Del Rey (updated when members report) – Sardines. $30/scoop, half scoops not available (5-6) CISCOS Bait Barge –  sardine & anchovy mix  (5-9)

****************************** INSHORE / ISLANDS Section ******************************

Inshore GPS Spots are here.   Sheephead news: As of Apr. 1st you can now fillet sheephead on board your boat thanks to a collaboration between SAC and CA DFW. Fillets must be at least 6.75″ long with the full skin attached. See the DFW press release for details. Channel Islands The boats saw some signal of seabass yesterday in the Yellow Banks area but they didn’t want to bite. A few days ago the boats were getting them on red tube plastic’s and red colored surface iron while chasing bird schools in the Yellow Banks area. Today there were not many boats out and the early word is not good. Little to no seabass or yellowtail at Santa Cruz Island. At Santa Rosa it remains quiet. The squid has not yet come back in any real numbers at Rhodes Reef or in Becher’s Bay and as such the seabass and yellowtail bite remains slow there. Guys are still getting some big halibut in Becher’s and the Santa Rosa Flats. These areas will likely light up again when some new squid moves back in. 1st quarter moon is on the 11th and the full is on the 18th. Prime time for both the squid to pop back up and the gamefish to follow them up. Keep your fingers crossed. If you want rockfish and lingcod none of that info has changed… The fishing for lingcod and big quality reds and chuckles is great at San Miguel and Santa Rosa. The lings prefer the sardine and the swimbaits or jigs. They don’t care much for squid. Yeah sure you catch one on squid once in a while but day in and day out the other methods work so much better. The live and fresh dead squid though is hammering the reds, chuckles and whitefish. At Anacapa Island guys fishing the Anacapa Reef and along the south side of the Island to the Gap between Santa Cruz and Anacapa in 200 to 350-400 feet are scoring plenty of reds along with lots of other mixed red rockfish and whitefish. Live or fresh dead squid is working best but they are biting the anchovy too. LA Harbor / Long Beach Shelf / Newport Beach There are some yellowtail around but they are off the bite and not showing themselves very good right now. the Mussel Farm which is located at 33 36.894 x 118 06.471 was on the slow side this morning. Same for the 150 and Double Rigs areas. Keep an eye open for birds and puddlers. For everybody else it is just the same old stuff. Rockfish, sculpin and some sand bass. The Southeast Bank and the West Slope spots are the spots to hit to load up on rockfish. The bite is pretty good with plenty of reds, bocaccio, whitefish and sculpin biting. Izor’s Reef and the New Pipe #2 spot has some sand bass, a few calico bass and some sculpin for the guys fishing the leadhead and squid combo and plastic’s Catalina Island Squid; The Long Beach Carnage is out in front of Avalon with live squid for sale. Contact them at 562-714-8103 or hail them on VHF ch 11. The Kinley Marie is back at the Island. They made a few scoops last night and are parked at Sliver Canyon with squid for sale. Hail them on VHF Channel 11. Mills Landing is the location for the squid but again it is very hard to catch right now. The stuff is not coming up to the surface and to make matters worse seiners were making sets on the stuff Sunday night. Be sure and bring the squid jigs as you might not be able to scoop any at all. Fishing; Yellowtail!! A large volume of mixed grade yellows has moved in on the middle of the front side for little Gibraltar to Red Bluff. Much of the focus is on the Empire Landing and Yellowtail Point area. These yellows are mixed in size. A bunch are in the 5-8lb class and there is a lot in the 12-20lb class as well. These yellows are biting the sardine just fine. No need for live squid although they are very willing to bite it. The yellows or seabass on the back side are a different story. You need the squid for any chance at all of getting bit as the sardine isn’t working here. This morning the bite was excellent again with lots of yellows being caught until around the noon hour when the current died. No current = No yellowtail. One boat in the area also scored a big 50lb class white seabass while fishing for those yellowtail There is also a chance for a yellowtail or 2 at the west end back side spots like Iron Bound. Also the Farnsworth Bank has been seeing some yellowtail action in recent days. The east end at the Can Dumps and Pebbly Beach is also holding some yellowtail. There is also a chance of finding them back side east from Church Rock to Salta Verde. Nothing new on the seabass front along the back side of the Island…. A scant few are still being found on the beaches on the backside in 10 to 30 feet of water but these are not biting very good. Once in a while somebody scores 1 or 2 with live squid if they set up on the edge of the milky white/green water where the current is flowing into the spot. If you don’t have the squid don’t waste your time fishing for them. You’ll need to keep a steady chum line of squid bits and the very occasional live one going. You might have to sit and wait them out for a very long time and even then there is no guarantee you will get one. Calico bass fishing is picking up. While it is mostly shorts biting the guys are also catching a fair amount of legal size bass too. Back side west and front side west seems to be working best for these early season bass. They are biting the smaller sardine, live and fresh dead squid and plastic’s. San Clemente Island The Island was/is closed again today and Friday, but open on Saturday through Wednesday next week in the Gold Bluff / White Rock area from 7am until 5pm. Pyramid Cove will be closed from 10pm until 11pm. It is open in the morning hours. As for the fishing it was a slow day today as the boats were not able to fish the favored front side location between Gold Bluff and White Rock. These areas is where most of the yellowtail are coming from but there are some near the Caves spot in Pyramid Cove that want to bite a little in the grey light in the very early morning if you have live squid. The stuff on the front side is very willing to bite the sardine when conditions are right meaning some down hill current and no wind blowing off the Island. Pyramid Cove in the Caves area saw some yellows bite on live squid in the grey light of very early morning a few days ago but nothing since then. There is some squid around but sea lions are all over it. Most appears to be up at NW Harbor where some boats saw “fire balls” of the stuff but it was beat up in a few minutes by those pesky sea lions. There are now some barracuda in the Cove where the yellows are and there is still plenty of those bonito around too. We had a contact run the back side looking for yellowtail and he said “It’s a ghost town. Totally devoid of life. No bait no birds no fish” Be sure to check the Navy closure schedule  before heading out. Always monitor VHF Ch. 16 and obey any requests to clear out of closed security zones. Click here  for info on how to read the closure schedule. Dana Point / Oceanside The inshore stuff is unchanged. Water north of Dana is dirty with a lot of junk floating around. Much better water conditions are south of the Harbor. Calico and sand bass are trying to bite a little bit on the stone piles located where most of the big kelp beds were. Currently there is only a small amount of kelp making it to the surface. There should be more in the coming weeks/months as the stuff grows super fast. If you want rockfish Box Canyon continues to provide plenty of reds, bocaccio and sculpin. The rockfish are on the deep end of the cobble stone hard bottom in 220 to 240 feet while the sculpin are on the shallower end in about 180 to 200 feet. Squid and red plastics are both working great Del Mar to Imperial Beach Light rain and drizzle this morning but otherwise conditions were pretty good Heard from a couple of guys slow trolling mackerel for yellowtail this morning in the Upper La Jolla area. They both said the bite in general was slow although one of the guys said he did see one yellow caught on a slow trolled mackerel and the other said he got bit once but the hook didn’t stick. Guys are getting the macks by jigging bait catcher rigs just outside the kelp line. **** Attention **** There is now an ice vending machine at the Shelter Island launch ramp for your convenience. It’s located right near the bathroom building at the top of the ramp. The machine takes credit cards and 20 lb. bags are $6.95 each. Swipe your credit card to open, take as many as you want, and it charges by weight when you close the door. ——— Mexican waters ———— Getting Permits To Fish Mexico – An Angler’s Guide To Baja by That Baja Guy-Gary Graham Coronado Islands / Rockpile Yesterday was a slow day around the Islands. We did hear of a few yellows caught by some guys slow trolling the weather side of North Island but over-all it sounded pretty dismal. Early word today sounds just the same. A little flash of yellows early and North Island and then nothing. Have not heard of anything since 9am Evening Update; Well it was indeed a slow day around the Islands. Early showing and then dead all day. Hopefully it will get better tomorrow. With so few boats fishing the Islands again reports are very hard to come by so if you fished the Islands please shoot us a report to Reports@www.fishdope.com. Bracelets are now required to fish within Pacific Island Biosphere Reserve areas, including the Coronado Islands, Todos Santos, and San Martin Island. See the Mexico Info page in the Resources section for more info. **** ATTENTION **** You must stay at least 250 meters (820 feet) away from any tuna pens. If you don’t you are at risk of losing your boat and landing in a Mexican jail. Click here for more details on this subject *********************** The Mexican Navy regularly patrols the islands and checks boats for the required paperwork, including Mexican Fishing License, Vessel Temporary Import Permit, FMM and valid Country of Residence Passport for each person on the boat (can’t purchase the FMM (Tourist Card) without a passport anyway). Required permits are listed on the CONAPESCA website for fishing within 12 miles of land including the islands. The permits can be purchased through their website.

****************************** OFFSHORE Section ******************************

–——— US WATERS ———– Below the 43 Fathom Spot / Clemente Basin Buoy / East-West Butterfly We did not get a report from this area today as the fleet has made a move over to the 475 Knuckle area instead. That said there is still a very good chance there are still some bluefin in this area as well up the Clemente Ridge or out towards the 381 and the 267 Condom Bank. Water temp is hovering around 63.5 degrees. Perfect for bluefin. Water is also very clean with good signal of bait around especially near the Clement Basin Buoy. At last word all the tuna in this area were only being found on the sonar down 150 to 200 feet with no signal of any tuna up on the surface. We expect this area will see some boats having a look at it this weekend unless something good develops elsewhere. BTW…. If you want yellowtail and you are close to the San Clemente Basin Weather Buoy you should stop and make a drift. The Buoy has been holding a bunch of rat yellowtail on it for the past week or so The following GPS numbers are where bluefin or kelp paddy yellowtail were found today but not necessarily where tuna/yellowtail were caught: 32 30.25 x 118 02.10 – San Clemente Basin Buoy. Yellowtail ——- MEXICAN WATERS ———— 425-101 / 475 Knuckle / Finger Bank / Upper Hidden Bank This new area is where 90% of the fleet is now working as some decent sized schools were found in this area late yesterday afternoon and evening. These bluefin are running in the 40 to 150lb class with most of those in the 50-70lb class and are stuffed full of red crab. They are responding well to chum but are NOT biting well. Most of the tuna that are getting hooked in this area are coming on either the fly line sardine with 30-40lb fluoro and a size 1-1/0 circle hook or the rubber band torpedo rig and a hot sardine or on the Flat-fall jigs. They are being found as puddlers, breezers and on the sonar. There is tonnage of red crab in the area and those are showing up as huge red blobs on the meter which could easily be mistaken for tuna. Again these bluefin are responding well to the chum unlike the fish out to the NW west which are hunkered down for what ever reason. This zone is also holding kelps with yellowtail on them. Most of these are those little 3-5lb rats but there are some legit 8-15lbers in the mix. The following GPS numbers are where bluefin or kelp paddy yellowtail were found today but not necessarily where tuna/yellowtail were caught: 32 05 x 117 05 – Kelp paddy yellowtail 32 05 x 117 04 – Bluefin. Good area 32 05 x 117 03 – Bluefin 32 04 x 117 04 – Bluefin. Big spots of breezers 32 02 x 117 08 – Bluefin The sportboat San Diego is recommending these tackle set-ups; (1) Talica 12 2 speed filled halfway with 65 lb braid. Then topped off with fresh 40 lb mono. Next attach 5 feet of 40 lb flouro. Next attach size 1 or 1/0 circle hook. This will be your flyline bait rig. (2) Talica 12 or 16 2 speed filled halfway with 65 or 80 lb braid then topped off with 50 lb mono. Next attach 5 ft of 50 lb flouro. Then tie a 1/0 circle hook then rubber band a 6 oz torpedo sinker. The 2nd outfit can also fish a 200 gram flatfall with a crimped 80 lb leader. ***** General Info updated on 5-8-2019 ***** During the daytime there has been a few balloon or kite/double trouble rig bluefin caught over the past several days and this is the #1 way to get these really big tuna to the boat as it is nearly impossible to land a 150+ tuna on 40lb flyline gear. For most guys the bites continue to come on the fly line sardine fished on 30-40lb fluorocarbon, a small circle hook and a HOT sardine. Take some time to pick the best sardine possible! You want a pale green back and NO red spots on the body. Generally speaking the hardest one to catch in the bait well is the one you want to be using. A few have been successful lately rubber banding a 4-6oz torpedo sinker to the line and dropping the sardine down deep where the tuna are holding. See the pic below. Lately there has been more flat-fall fish too. Not just at night either. Some guys are getting them during the daytime too. These are generally coming off stops where the bluefin are showing down around 150 to 200 feet and refuse to come up for the chum. Fish the flat-fall with at least a 100lb fluoro leader. 130-150lb is even better. Use at least 60lb. main line. 80 to 100lb gear is much better when fishing the flat-fall jigs. The night time hours from 7pm until 6am is all about the Flat-fall jigs. Here is a great trick/tip…. Take a black permanent marker and put a mark(s) on the braid every 50 feet. One mark for 50 feet, 2 for 100, 3 for 150 and so on. This will allow you to know exactly how deep you are fishing. You find the tuna on the sonar you know to drop down to just past the 3rd mark to allow a little extra for scope. Below is a pic of the rubber band sinker rig some guys are using to get a sardine down deep to the fish.

******************************************************************* All reports, good, bad, or otherwise are very helpful. If you go fishing please give us a call or shoot us an email. reports@www.fishdope.com 1 (619) 992-6099

Wednesday May 8th 2019

PM Updates marked in RED *****Attention iPhone and iPad users***** The new iOS FishDope app for iPhone and iPad is here! Search for FishDope in the App Store to download and install. We recommend a minimum of iOS 9 to run the app, and newer versions will give the best performance. Note: Please use your FishDope username, not email address, to log in. The app offers all the charts and the latest 7 days of fishing reports, and you can now stream live VHF radio while online. It automatically stores the fishing reports for offline use, and it also saves the last chart region and chart layers you’ve viewed so that you can take them with you on the water and out of wifi range. You can also continue to view the FishDope website with a browser like Safari or Chrome on your phone or tablet, but only the app will save reports and charts for offline use. We’ve created a FAQ page for the app (with instructions for using it) here: FishDope App Frequently Asked Questions If you have other questions or notice bugs, please post them up in our forums.

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—– Weather —– There were a few light rain showers down near the border this morning and many areas saw stronger winds than it was forecast to be. In general though conditions were not bad. Just a little bumpy. In the afternoon those same old 10-15 knot winds kicked up pretty much everywhere. Expect this to continue for the next several months Forecast says we have a chance for rain every day this week right on through Sunday. Strongest chance is on Friday and Saturday. Might even see a thunderstorm during that time. As always, please keep a close eye on the latest forecast and conditions for your local area before you head out! Synopsis for Inshore Waters of the Southern California Coast Weak to moderate onshore flow will continue this week, with southerly winds Friday and Saturday associated with a weak storm system. The system will bring scattered showers Friday into Sunday, with a slight chance of thunderstorms Saturday.  

LIVE Weather Broadcast Northern Sector – Santa Barbara to LA Southern Sector – Orange and San Diego County and SCI Baja Sector (experimental, may not be updated every day) —– Bait Report —– Bait Barge Contact Info Everingham Bros Bait Company San Diego – 4-6″ sardine (5-7) Mission Bay – 3-6″ sardine (5-4) Oceanside Bait Barge Recording (760) 434-1183 – 5-6″ sardine  (5-4). Dana Point – 5-7″ sardine (5-2). Newport Bait Barge (310) 461-5370 – 4-6″ sardine (5-8) Nacho’s Bait Barge (updated when members report) –  4-6″ sardine (5-8) San Pedro Bait Barge (310) 365-2516 CH.11 – 4-6″ sardine (5-8) Redondo Bait Report (310) 372-2111 – medium size sardines – Available most mornings. Call 909 721-5849 for Mike at the bait barge (5-4) Marina Del Rey (updated when members report) – Sardines. $30/scoop, half scoops not available (5-6) CISCOS Bait Barge –  anchovy  (5-8)

****************************** INSHORE / ISLANDS Section ******************************

Inshore GPS Spots are here.   Sheephead news: As of Apr. 1st you can now fillet sheephead on board your boat thanks to a collaboration between SAC and CA DFW. Fillets must be at least 6.75″ long with the full skin attached. See the DFW press release for details. Channel Islands On the quiet side again today. The latest area with decent seabass fishing was at Santa Cruz Island while chasing bird schools in the Yellow Banks area. They were biting red crab colored plastic tube baits and red crab colored surface iron as there is a ton of red crab in the area. Squid is very hard to come by right now. That is why the seabass, yellowtail and big halibut bite at Rhodes and Bechers is so slow. These areas will likely light up again when some new squid moves back in. 1st quarter moon is on the 11th and the full is on the 18th. Prime time for both the squid to pop back up and the gamefish to follow them up. Keep your fingers crossed. If you want rockfish and lingcod none of that info has changed… The fishing for lingcod and big quality reds and chuckles is great at San Miguel and Santa Rosa. The lings prefer the sardine and the swimbaits or jigs. They don’t care much for squid. Yeah sure you catch one on squid once in a while but day in and day out the other methods work so much better. The live and fresh dead squid though is hammering the reds, chuckles and whitefish. At Anacapa Island guys fishing the Anacapa Reef and along the south side of the Island to the Gap between Santa Cruz and Anacapa in 200 to 350-400 feet are scoring plenty of reds along with lots of other mixed red rockfish and whitefish. Live or fresh dead squid is working best but they are biting the anchovy too. Santa Monica Bay Report from Don Pardo; Sorry for delay, but did fish the El Segundo pipe Sunday and Monday this week. Fish were spotty, and when we found them it was tough to stay on them due to the winds and white caps coming up by late morning. Seemed to be more of an afternoon bite. Managed sub-limits of sand bass, calico bass, and sculpin each day. Fish are there, but much slower than it was a week or two ago. Most boats are out deeper going for rock fish. LA Harbor / Long Beach Shelf / Newport Beach Yellowtail fishing this morning at the Mussel Farm which is located at 33 36.894 x 118 06.471 was on the slow side. There were a few caught but no big numbers. These 10-20lb yellows are chomping on a fly lined sardine fished on 40lb. Set the drag very tight and hang on! You need the heavy line and drag to keep those yellows from dashing into the structure. Yellows have also been seen under birds, puddling and on sonar marks near the Double Rig and the 150 area over the past several days including today although these fish remain spooky and sink out when a boat tries to get in casting range of them. If those yellowtail fail to show or bite for you there is always the Southeast Bank and the West Slope spots to load up on rockfish. The bite is pretty good with plenty of reds, bocaccio, whitefish and sculpin biting. Catalina Island Squid; Squid making was very tough again last night. The Long Beach Carnage left the Island Saturday morning after selling out the little they made overnight and are not likely coming back until Wednesday night. The Kinley Marie is back at the Island. They made a few scoops last night and are parked at Sliver Canyon with squid for sale. Hail them on VHF Channel 11. Mills Landing is the location for the squid but again it is very hard to catch right now. The stuff is not coming up to the surface and to make matters worse seiners were making sets on the stuff Sunday night. Be sure and bring the squid jigs as you might not be able to scoop any at all. Fishing; Breaking news! Yellowtail went off at Empire Landing. Some boats were calling in as early as 10am with 20-30 yellows on board and still hanging more. At 12:30 the Native Sun called in with 50+ yellows with more hanging. At 1:00 pm the Pursuit called in with 50+ with more hooked up. Some yellows are also showing and biting at Little Gibraltar and at Red Bluff. Word is these yellowtail are biting the sardine just fine but they are also biting the squid if you have it. There is also a chance for a yellowtail or 2 at the west end back side spots like Iron Bound. Also the Farnsworth Bank has been seeing some yellowtail action in recent days. The east end at the Can Dumps and Pebbly Beach is also holding some yellowtail. There is also a chance of finding them back side east from Church Rock to Salta Verde. These yellows on the back side will not bite the sardine. Seems the only bait to get bites right now is live squid and then only a little bit. As for the seabass there some being found on the beaches on the backside in 10 to 30 feet of water but these are not biting very good. Once in a while somebody scores 1 or 2 with live squid if they set up on the edge of the milky white/green water where the current is flowing into the spot. If you don’t have the squid don’t waste your time fishing for them. You’ll need to keep a steady chum line of squid bits and the very occasional live one going. You might have to sit and wait them out for a very long time and even then there is no guarantee you will get one. Calico bass fishing is picking up. While it is mostly shorts biting the guys are also catching a fair amount of legal size bass too. Back side west and front side west seems to be working best for these early season bass. They are biting the smaller sardine, live and fresh dead squid and plastic’s. Other than this about the only thing happening is good rockfish action at the West End Humps, East End and Salta Verde rockfish areas. The guys are pulling up good number of bocaccio, chuckleheads, reds, whitefish and other assorted mixed red rockfish. San Clemente Island The Island was/is closed again today, Thursday, and Friday, but open on Saturday through Wednesday next week in the Gold Bluff / White Rock area from 7am until 5pm. Pyramid Cove will be closed from 10pm until 11pm. It is open in the morning hours. The Gold Bluff and White Rock area is where most of the yellowtail are coming from but there are some near the Caves spot in Pyramid Cove that want to bite a little in the grey light in the very early morning if you have live squid. The stuff on the front side is very willing to bite the sardine when conditions are right. Today there was at least one boat in the White Rock area this morning and they reported that the wind was blowing off the Island and there was very little current. Both are bad news for yellows. No current means no yellowtail and wind blowing off the Island makes the boat hang out to sea instead of hanging back towards the Island. There is some squid around but sea lions are all over it. Most appears to be up at NW Harbor where some boats saw “fire balls” of the stuff but it was beat up in a few minutes by those pesky sea lions. There are now some barracuda in the Cove where the yellows are and there is still plenty of those bonito around too. We had a contact run the back side looking for yellowtail and he said “It’s a ghost town. Totally devoid of life. No bait no birds no fish” Be sure to check the Navy closure schedule  before heading out. Always monitor VHF Ch. 16 and obey any requests to clear out of closed security zones. Click here  for info on how to read the closure schedule. Dana Point / Oceanside The inshore stuff is unchanged. Water north of Dana is dirty with a lot of junk floating around. Much better water conditions are south of the Harbor. Calico and sand bass are trying to bite a little bit on the stone piles located where most of the big kelp beds were. Currently there is only a small amount of kelp making it to the surface. There should be more in the coming weeks/months as the stuff grows super fast. If you want rockfish Box Canyon continues to provide plenty of reds, bocaccio and sculpin. The rockfish are on the deep end of the cobble stone hard bottom in 220 to 240 feet while the sculpin are on the shallower end in about 180 to 200 feet. Squid and red plastics are both working great Del Mar to Imperial Beach Light rain showers through out much of the morning. The sea were not bad but the were on the lumpy-bumpy side. We did not get a fishing report from the area today probably due to the weather. We got the weather info from the whale watch fleet. Check back to Tuesday’s report for the latest info. **** Attention **** There is now an ice vending machine at the Shelter Island launch ramp for your convenience. It’s located right near the bathroom building at the top of the ramp. The machine takes credit cards and 20 lb. bags are $6.95 each. Swipe your credit card to open, take as many as you want, and it charges by weight when you close the door. ——— Mexican waters ———— Getting Permits To Fish Mexico – An Angler’s Guide To Baja by That Baja Guy-Gary Graham Coronado Islands / Rockpile Yesterday was a slow day for boats fishing the Islands. The only sportboat there was the Mission Belle and they only had 4 yellows, 5 bonito and a sample of rickfish, sheephead and sculpin. Today we got an early report of some yellows biting slow trolled sardines and mackerel along the weather side of North Island. They said they got one up near Pukey and the other closer to the Key Hole. This was at 9:30 am But that is all we got as of post time. Watch for an evening update. With so few boats fishing the Islands again reports are very hard to come by so if you fished the Islands please shoot us a report to Reports@www.fishdope.com. Bracelets are now required to fish within Pacific Island Biosphere Reserve areas, including the Coronado Islands, Todos Santos, and San Martin Island. See the Mexico Info page in the Resources section for more info. **** ATTENTION **** You must stay at least 250 meters (820 feet) away from any tuna pens. If you don’t you are at risk of losing your boat and landing in a Mexican jail. Click here for more details on this subject *********************** The Mexican Navy regularly patrols the islands and checks boats for the required paperwork, including Mexican Fishing License, Vessel Temporary Import Permit, FMM and valid Country of Residence Passport for each person on the boat (can’t purchase the FMM (Tourist Card) without a passport anyway). Required permits are listed on the CONAPESCA website for fishing within 12 miles of land including the islands. The permits can be purchased through their website.

****************************** OFFSHORE Section ******************************

**** Over All Consensus ***** Currently it is looking pretty bleak for bluefin tuna. The big volume of tuna has wandered out to the west beyond the US – Mexico Border. The tuna are staying down deep which is typical of when tuna are on the move. There are more tuna still in the 371-390-San Salvador Knoll area but the volume just isn’t there like it was a week ago Ok so here is the big $64 million dollar question. Where are they going. Some Capt’s we spoke with think that if they stay on their current course they could soon show up at the 381 or the 267 Condoum Bank and then possibly the Cortez / Tanner after that. Other Capt’s we talked to today are thinking they will run up the Clemente Basin / Clemente Ridge to possibly Desperation and up the back side of Clemente. The later areas are mostly likely if there is some squid on Desperation and currently we don’t know if there is or not. There is some squid at Clemente but not a lot of volume. There was also some talk of more bluefin being found well south in just barely 1.5 day range. This is also likely to be true although we do not have any confirmation of that. –——— US WATERS ———– Below the 43 Fathom Spot / Clemente Basin Buoy / East-West Butterfly There are bluefin in this big zone but for the mast part they are stay down between 150 and 200 feet and are not responding to chum very, if at all. A few bluefin are being caught on the rubber band torpedo rig and on Flat-fall jigs but for the most part these tuna are not interested in what the boats are offering. This of course is a day to day thing and tomorrow they might be up and biting. Won’t know for sure. Water temp is hovering around 63.5 degrees. Perfect for bluefin. Water is also very clean with good signal of bait around especially near the Clement Basin Bouy. The bluefin being found are coming in 3 size groups. Some 25 to 30lb stuff, mainly 40-80lb models and those big ones from just over 100 to over 200lbs. If you want yellowtail and you are close to the San Clemente Basin Weather Buoy you should stop and make a drift. The Buoy has a bunch of rat yellowtail on it. The following GPS numbers are where bluefin or kelp paddy yellowtail were found today but not necessarily where tuna/yellowtail were caught: 32 30 x 118 05 – Sonar schools of bluefin down 200 feet. 32 30.25 x 118 02.10 – San Clemente Basin Buoy. Yellowtail ——- MEXICAN WATERS ———— Coronado Canyon / 425 / 101 No reports of any bluefin in this zone but guys are finding kelps with yellowtail on them. The vast majority of the kelps that are holding have those little 3-5lb rats but there a very small number that have some 8-15lb class on them. Some guys are also getting jig stops on big bonito from 7 to nearly 15lbs. The following GPS numbers are where kelp paddy yellowtail were found today but not necessarily where yellowtail were caught: 32 22 x 117 20 – Jig stop on 10lb class bonito 32 18 x 117 22 – Kelp paddy yellowtail 32 14 x 117 16 – Breezer of yellowtail 371 / 230 / Upper Hidden Bank / 390 / San Salvador Knoll Same exact story as yesterday…. Slow but not quite dead. It appears much of the bluefin that was in this big general area have wandered out to the west to northwest just across the border into the areas below the 43 Fathom Spot / Clemente Basin Buoy / East-West Butterfly. That is not to say that all of the tuna are gone now. Just less volume than before. They are still playing had to get although a few boats called in at 11am with a handful of bluefin on board. Most are being found on sonar marks down 150-200 feet and the majority of the schools do not want to come up for the chum. What bluefin that do bite are going for the sardine with a rubber banded torpedo sinker up about 4-6 feet above the hook or the big flat fall jigs. Using the sardine most of the bites continue to come on 30-40lb fluoro and a small circle hook. The bluefin being found are coming in 3 size groups. Some 25 to 30lb stuff, mainly 40-80lb models and those big ones from just over 100 to over 200lbs. The following GPS numbers are where bluefin or kelp paddy yellowtail were found today but not necessarily where tuna/yellowtail were caught: 32 14 x 117 45 – Sonar bluefin 32 06 x 117 36 – Sonar school of bluefin. 2 caught on deep fished sardines ***** General Info updated on 5-8-2019 ***** During the daytime there has been a few balloon or kite/double trouble rig bluefin caught over the past several days and this is the #1 way to get these really big tuna to the boat as it is nearly impossible to land a 150+ tuna on 40lb flyline gear. For most guys the bites continue to come on the fly line sardine fished on 30-40lb fluorocarbon, a small circle hook and a HOT sardine. Take some time to pick the best sardine possible! You want a pale green back and NO red spots on the body. Generally speaking the hardest one to catch in the bait well is the one you want to be using. A few have been successful lately rubber banding a 4-6oz torpedo sinker to the line and dropping the sardine down deep where the tuna are holding. See the pic below. Lately there has been more flat-fall fish too. Not just at night either. Some guys are getting them during the daytime too. These are generally coming off stops where the bluefin are showing down around 150 to 200 feet and refuse to come up for the chum. Fish the flat-fall with at least a 100lb fluoro leader. 130-150lb is even better. Use at least 60lb. main line. 80 to 100lb gear is much better when fishing the flat-fall jigs. The night time hours from 7pm until 6am is all about the Flat-fall jigs. Here is a great trick/tip…. Take a black permanent marker and put a mark(s) on the braid every 50 feet. One mark for 50 feet, 2 for 100, 3 for 150 and so on. This will allow you to know exactly how deep you are fishing. You find the tuna on the sonar you know to drop down to just past the 3rd mark to allow a little extra for scope. Below is a pic of the rubber band sinker rig some guys are using to get a sardine down deep to the fish.

******************************************************************* All reports, good, bad, or otherwise are very helpful. If you go fishing please give us a call or shoot us an email. reports@www.fishdope.com 1 (619) 992-6099